Irreverent aura spices perfume from Gaultier

INSIDE STYLE

September 22, 1994|By Vida Roberts | Vida Roberts,Sun Fashion Editor

Jean-Paul Gaultier, the enfant terrible of the Parisian power designers, has created his first perfume. What can one expect from a man who wears skirts, lets his bleached-blond roots go and is best known for jutting Madonna into a satin torpedo bra? Classy trashy. The scent is bottled in a curvy female form overlaid with frosty or gilt corset and garters. Oh, and it comes in a can. It's quite lovely -- the surprise package and the fragrance. The irreverent presentation may undo some men, who are the frequent buyers of status fragrances and packaging at gift time. The man who gets it and has the confidence to present it to a woman is be taken seriously. Gaultier will be exclusive at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Do we see a perfume body parts trend happening? The other half of perfume presentations is Head Over Heels, the new fragrance from Ultima. That comes in pink frosting stoppered with a topsy-turvy black skirt and upturned pink legs dressed in stiletto heels. Naughty, no? Head Over Heels will be sold at Ultima counters.

The Breck girl -- wholesome, lovely and mostly blond -- was the American feminine ideal for more than 40 years. Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, Cybill Shepherd, Jaclyn Smith and Christie Brinkley were among more than 300 Breck girls idealized in pastel portraits from the mid-'30s to the '70s.

Now the search is on for three new Breck Girl Spokesmodels to be selected from three age groups -- 5 to 21, 22 to 39 and 40 years and over. It's an acknowledgment that women can become "girls."

Entry forms are available at supermarkets and drug stores, or send a 3-by-5 card with name, address, phone number, age and store. Two proofs of Breck purchase are required. Also wanted is a 1- to 3-minute VHS videotape of yourself telling why you want to be a Breck Girl. Send to Breck Girl, PS Merchandising, P.O. Box 4650, Naperville, Ill. 60567-4650.

That seems like a pretty demanding sort of contest, but look what Breckness did for other unknowns. The prize is a contract, a portrait, $5,000, a diamond pin and yourself included in the Breck Girl Hall of Fame Museum in Phoenix, Ariz.

Mary Duffy, fashion expert and cheerleader for more than 31 million American women who wear a size 18 or larger, has introduced a Full Figured Fashion Collection for Simplicity Patterns based on specific body shapes.

All plus figures are not equally proportioned, and the size 18 to 32 patterns are designed to mix and coordinate.